


On-call Stone

by SilverWolf96



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Babysitting, Couch Cuddles, Friendship, Gen, Ice Cream, M/M, Pizza, Sick Character, Sick Sonic the Hedgehog, Sickfic, Sleepy Cuddles, Talking, Television Watching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28341459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverWolf96/pseuds/SilverWolf96
Summary: Sonic gets sick one day at school, and both Tom and Maddie are busy, so she calls Stone and asks him to pick up Sonic and look after him. Stone agrees, and Robotnik decides to invite himself along as well.
Relationships: Agent Stone & Maddie Wachowski, Agent Stone & Sonic, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik/Agent Stone
Comments: 10
Kudos: 56





	On-call Stone

**Author's Note:**

> I was supposed to post this yesterday, but then we had dinner at my aunt's place, and then we played Monopoly for nearly five hours. (Also, my mum got her first ever victory in Monopoly at age 60)  
> And then it was late and I was too tired to do anything.  
> Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!
> 
> Also, delayed Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

### On-call Stone

It has been a normal day so far. Stone and Robotnik arrived at work at seven am., as usual, and went straight to work, as the Doctor has been working on some new project Stone doesn’t really understand. It’s not anything the Doctor is too excited to do, since he keeps complaining about how boring and unimaginative the people who want it done are, and how he could make it so much better if they’d have the braincells to listen to him, but no. 

Then he gets a phone call. From a number he has saved on his phone since a few weeks ago, and has chatted with a few times since, but never expected to call him while at work. He lets the Doctor know he’ll step out for a few moments, before exiting the lab and accepting the call.

“Hello?” he answers, already knowing who’s on the other end, and very curious for the reason for the call. 

“Good morning, Aban,” Maddie Wachowski greets him, sounding both worried and relived at the same time. Relieved he answered the phone? Worried because something has happened? Some kind of danger? “I’m so glad you picked up.” 

“What is it? Is something wrong?” There has to be something going on, at least, or she wouldn’t be saying that. “Did something happen?” Now he’s starting to get worried.

“Well, yes,” she admits, then quickly follows up with “But it’s nothing bad, really! I just need to ask for a favour,” as she must have somehow sensed his apprehension. 

“Depends on what it is,” he answers, knowing he’ll need a pretty good reason for the Doctor to let him leave work during the day. Not that he doubts she would call him if it wasn’t something pressing, even if it’s not dangerous. 

“Sonic’s school just called me a little bit ago,” she explains, and he takes a few seconds to register the fact that the alien hedgehog goes to school. “Apparently he’s sick and they want me to come pick him up.”

“Can’t he just have him lay down somewhere, in the nurse’s office or something?” He vaguely remembers something like that from when he was young and got sick at school. 

“I asked that too, and apparently they can’t,” is her answer. Stone might be wrong, but she sounds a bit upset over this. “They say that because he’s a – what he is, they don’t want to risk it being dangerous to the other children.”

“I see,” Stone replies, thinking. It sounds kind of reasonable but doesn’t explain what she needs from him. “So, what’s the problem?” he doubts she called him just to inform him that the kid is sick.

“The problem is that I’m fully booked for today, and these appointments are all things that cannot be put aside to another day, and Tom and Wade are three towns away on a conference of sorts, so neither of us can get there.”

“What about some kind of after-school care?” Stone asks, having a feeling where this is going. “Surely there’s something like that in town?” 

“There is, and I asked them,” Maddie confirms. “They politely told me they can’t take in sick children, so that’s out of the question.” She takes a deep breath before continuing. “I wanted to ask if you have a chance to pick up Sonic for me and look after him for a few hours?”

“I should be able to,” he tells her, casting a glance at the lab where Robotnik is still working. “But I have to ask the Doctor first. It’s a good thing today is a slow day at work,” he adds, letting her know it should be fine. “Just a moment,” he tells her as he puts the call on hold and steps into the lab. 

“Doctor?” Stone calls for Robotnik as he enters the lab, quickly finding the man bent over some blueprints. Now to figure out how to get the Doctor to agree to him leaving without mentioning Sonic. Even though Robotnik isn’t after him like the first time, it’s still probably better to not get him involved. “I need to ask for a favour.”

“I’m not sure if I like the sound of that, Stone,” Robotnik replies, turning to face him, leaning back against the table. “What is it?” At least he’s willing to listen, which is at least something. 

“A... friend of mine,” Stone decides to be a little vague about this, hoping Robotnik won’t ask too many questions, “needs me to pick up her sick child from school, and look after him for a few hours, as she can’t leave work right now.” He can’t stand directly lying to Robotnik, so he just kind of leaves out a few things, like who the friend is and who the child is. That’s not too bad, right?

“You want to take time off from work to go babysit some kid?” Robotnik clarifies, giving him an irritated look. 

He doesn’t even really need Stone to be here for a good several hours today, if at all, as most of what he needs to do here is already done, and the rest is just paperwork that can be done from anywhere. He just doesn’t like being apart from Stone without good reason. For Stone, it’s something he finds endearing, a bit sad, and occasionally irritating, as a concept. 

“Well, yes,” Stone answers, shrugging. “It’s just for a few hours, and there isn’t really anything more for me to do here today. I can bring the paperwork with me, since the kid probably just needs some soup or something and be put to bed,” he explains, hoping the Doctor won’t tell him no. 

Robotnik stares at him for a good while, making him squirm a bit, wondering if he should take the decision out of his hands and just go, when he finally gets the answer “Fine.” 

“Okay, thanks,” Stone breathes out in relief, glad he got the permission, and glad the Doctor didn’t ask any more questions. “I’ll see you later, then!” With that, he grabs his coat and the paperwork, gives the Doctor a quick kiss and a hug, and is out the door, picking up his phone to tell Maddie he can make it. 

“Oh, thank you!” She sounds very relieved, probably having been worried about him not being able to make it. “I’ll text you some instructions and call the school to let them know you’re coming to pick up Sonic.” 

“When are you back home?” Stone asks, feeling he needs to know how long he’s expected to babysit. 

“I should be able to leave from work at four thirty, and the drive is about half an hour,” Maddie informs him, and Stone quickly does the math, counting in other factors as well.

“So, maybe around six, with traffic,” Stone concludes. 

“Maybe,” she agrees, then thanks him again and hangs up.

About a minute or so later, when he’s just made his way to the car and sat down, he receives the text from Maddie, with the school’s address and instructions on where to go there. 

_Park on the left side of the building, the other side is for kindergarten. Enter through the door on the right, the other ones are locked. There’s a lobby almost immediately, just after a corridor. Have some ID ready, you’ll probably need it._

This is followed up by another message with instruction on how to handle Sonic and take care of him, which Stone is very grateful for, as he’s never actually handled a sick child on his own. 

_Find out what’s wrong, make sure he rests and drinks lots of water. The spare key to the front door in under the white rock next to the porch. See if you can get him to eat some soup or something (there’s some in the left kitchen cabinet). Have him rest on the couch in the living room, so you can keep an eye on him. And please let Ozzie out into the back yard for a bit._

_Ozzie?_ He wonders for a moment, having never heard the name. He figures it’s a pet of some kind. A dog, or maybe a cat, probably. This sounds like something he can manage. His time with Robotnik will pretty well make up for his lack of experience with children, too. At least the instructions are clear, and he knows exactly what to do.

He gets to his car and enters the coordinates for the school on the GPS and starts driving. It takes a little less than thirty minutes to reach the school thanks to the milder traffic of this time of the day. As he pulls into the parking lot, on the left side as per instructions, he takes in the school building. 

As one might expect from this small place, it’s not a big or especially fancy school, but it has its charm. There are no children in the yard or in the corridors, so it’s probably in the middle of class right now. The hallway is covered in drawings and different art projects the kids have been making throughout the year. 

He pauses briefly to look at some of the drawings, such as one of a big black cat with gigantic yellow eyes, one that looks like a bunch of flowers on fire, and one with a small blue figure with two humans, who appear to be fighting off what looks like a bunch of flying eggs.

Stone grins at that one as he carries on. He wonders what Robotnik would make of it. 

When he enters the small room at the end of the corridor, he quickly finds the desk with a single receptionist, reading a gossip magazine of some kind. He walks up to her and shows his ID, once he gets her attention.

“Hello,” he starts with a polite smile. “I’m Aban Stone, and I’m here to pick up Sonic.”

The receptionist looks at his ID, then the ring on his finger, then takes in his jacket and tie before then finally at his face before deciding to actually talk to him. 

“Yes,” she says with a slightly hesitant voice. Stone can’t decide if she’s cautious or worried. He finds himself subconsciously straightening his back and posture. “Maddie called us a little bit ago, told you were coming.” She points toward another corridor to the right. “The nurse’s office is that way. Just go up the stairs and the third door to the left.” After that she goes back to reading her magazine.

“Thank you,” Stone says, even though she’s not listening anymore and goes in the direction she pointed out. Another corridor and a staircase later he’s standing in front of a door with a sign that says _Nurse_. He knocks on the door lightly and lets himself in. 

It’s a somewhat small, but very typical nurse’s office, with blinds blocking out most of the sun, a white table covered in papers and an uncomfortable-looking chair next to it. Sonic is sitting in the chair, wrapped in a coat that isn’t his and backpack at his feet. It still amazes him how easily this town just accepted a blue alien hedgehog as one of their own. 

Even Stone can tell he’s sick, and even though he hasn’t really spent time with the kid or anything, it still comes as somewhat of a shock how _young_ he is. And now, seeing him tired and almost lifeless, staring passively at him with somewhat glossy eyes, it’s all so _wrong_. The times he’s seen Sonic, the kid has been all hyperactive, running and jumping and talking everyone’s ear off, not being able to sit still for a minute. 

“Mister Stone?” comes a voice from behind the desk. Oh, right. There’s a nurse here too. He’ll have to deal with her at some point, but for now, he focuses on the kid, nodding at her in passing as he crouches down to be on eye level with Sonic. 

“Hey, Kid,” he greets Sonic softly, wondering if he has a headache. “Maddie said you weren’t feeling too good, so she asked me to pick you up.” 

“Hey, Spy Guy,” comes a tired-sounding response from Sonic, along with a small smile. 

“Spy Guy?” the nurse asks, sounding like she’s not sure if she should be concerned about this nickname or not. 

“I... work for the government,” Stone informs her, somewhat sheepishly, explaining why the kid called him that. 

“Like an American James Bond!” Sonic adds, with a bit more enthusiasm than earlier, before breaking into a small coughing fit. Yeah, he’s definitely not okay. 

Remembering how his mother used to quickly check his temperature, he places his hand on the kid’s forehead. He doesn’t know what the normal temperature is for an alien hedgehog, but either the kid’s burning up or he’s got cold fingers, based on the warmth he feels. 

“Pretty warm...” he notes to himself, before turning to the nurse. “What’s his temperature, and what’s it supposed to be?”

“I don’t know,” she honestly answers, looking somewhat worried. “It was 103 last time we checked, and he’s definitely sick.”

“Yeah,” Stone agrees, making a mental note to call Maddie when they get to the car to give her an update, and to ask her about the temperature. Probably worth a stop at the pharmacy, though. “Do I need to sign something?” he asks, just to make sure, before he walks out of there with the kid.

“No,” the nurse informs him. “We’ll handle everything here. Just make sure Maddie informs us when he’s good to come back to school.”

“Will do,” Stone tells her before turning to Sonic. “Let’s go, kid,” he says, holding out a hand. He’s expecting the kid to maybe take his hand and get up, but instead holds up both his arms in an obvious pick-me-up gesture. Stone picks him up, and the kid immediately droops against him, wrapping his arms around his neck and burying his face in his shoulder. 

“All right,” he shifts his grip on Sonic slightly so he can bend down to grab his backpack before nodding at the nurse. “Bye.” Then he leaves.

Getting out of the school is slightly more challenging than getting in, mainly due to limited arm usage, which makes it more difficult to do things like open doors, especially when Sonic seems to have no intention of being put down for even a moment, but he manages. 

When they get outside, Sonic shivers and huddles closer to him, despite it not really being cold, and Stone does his best to pull the coat tighter around him as he makes his way across the yard to the parking lot. 

When they get to the car, he has to make Sonic let go of him, and places the kid in the passenger seat. After getting in himself and making sure the kid’s seatbelt is on, they’re leaving. 

“We’re not... going to Eggman’s lab or anything, right?” Sonic asks hesitantly after a minute or so of driving. 

“No,” Stone reassures him, “We’re just going to stop by a pharmacy, and then drive to your home.”

“Oh, okay,” Sonic gives him a tired smile as he slumps in the seat. Stone turns up the heating slightly, as the kid’s still shivering a bit. “You’re not gonna make me eat medicine, right?” he then asks with a grimace. 

“I am,” Stone replies simply. “You don’t want to stay sick, do you?”

“Well, no,” Sonic admits. “I just really don’t like medicine...” he grumbles, looking out the window. 

“How about we pick up some ice cream on the way?” Stone offers, vaguely remembering getting to eat ice cream when sick as a child. 

“Cookies and cream flavour?” Sonic asks, sounding hopeful, now looking at Stone with huge eyes.

“Sure,” Stone agrees. “But only if you eat some soup and take your medicine. Deal?” He wonders if bribing the child to take the medicine is a good way to go about it, but at least it works, and if the kid actually behaves, surely he deserves a treat, right?

“Deal,” Sonic agrees. “Let’s get to that pharmacy. Can you drive any faster?”

Stone laughs a bit at that, and does speed up a little, though still staying within the speed limits. The stop at the pharmacy goes well. He leaves Sonic in the car as he goes to pick up some medicine to help with fever and a sore throat. He’s not in there for long, but by the time he gets back to the car, the kid has already fallen asleep, buried in the coat, head resting against the window. He has to resist the urge to ruffle the soft-looking fur, not wanting to wake him. 

He also stops by a store to buy the ice cream he promised, as well as some instant soup, as he doesn’t know what the Wachowskis have in their home. 

When he arrives at the Wachowski house, Sonic is still asleep. The street is empty, asides from one car that Stone takes not of, but doesn’t really think about further. He gets to the other side of the car and picks up the still sleeping Sonic, his backpack and the bag of stuff he bought before coming here. It’s a bit tricky to manage with only two hands, but he gets them all. He will have to put something down to get the door open, though. 

When he walks up toward the front door, he notices a person standing in the driveway. A very familiar person, and he realizes why the car parked nearby was one he recognized. He lets out an annoyed sigh before he straightens up and keeps walking. 

“What are you doing here, Ivo?” Stone asks Robotnik, who’s standing there in the middle of the Wachowskis driveway like he belongs there, arms crossed across his chest. He looks a bit impatient, and Stone briefly wonders how long he’s been waiting, but then brushes it aside. Doesn’t really matter, it’s not like Stone asked him to come here anyway. “And how did you know I’d be here?”

“Was curious who this _friend_ you’re doing favours for is, so I checked your phone records,” comes the answer easily. The man doesn’t even have the decency to pretend to think he’s done anything wrong by hacking Stone’s phone and following him to where he’s going. “Didn’t expect you to be babysitting the hedgehog of all things.”

“Of course you did,” Stone says, because what else should he have expected. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out Robotnik is a possessive bastard. “Now what?” he asks as he makes his way around Robotnik toward the front door, talking quietly to not wake Sonic, who’s somehow remaining asleep. “Are you staying or going?” He knows better than to demand Robotnik leaves. There’s no stopping him if he decides he wants to stay for whatever reason.

And right now he has other things to worry about than humouring his husband. Like getting the kid inside, to get some proper rest and maybe eat some soup and take his medicine. And let out Ozzie, whatever kind of animal that might be. 

Robotnik seems to have decided he’s staying, as he trains after Stone to the house, for once staying quiet as he watches Stone get the key from under the white rock and unlock the door. _As long as he doesn’t case trouble, it should be okay_ , Stone thinks as Robotnik follows him into the house.

Ozzie turns out to be a very happy and energetic Golden Retriever, who tries to jump on Stone and lick Sonic in the face as soon as they enter the house. Even tries to jump on Robotnik, but quickly gives up on that when he just shoves it away. 

Stone places Sonic on the couch in the living room and pulls a nearby blanket over him, before going to let Ozzie into the fenced-in backyard. Robotnik has wandered off somewhere to explore the house, as he didn’t really get to do that the last time he was here. It’s probably not polite to let someone uninvited into someone to someone else’s house and then let them snoop around, but right now Stone can’t really bring himself to care. 

“Hey, Spy Guy,” Sonic pipes up from the couch, haven finally woken up. “When did we get home? Did we get the ice cream?” And of course one of his first questions would be about the ice cream. The priorities of children. 

“The hedgehog is awake then? Good.” And of course Robotnik shows up from somewhere, apparently done with his snooping. “Time to do some testing.” 

“Eggman?!” Now Sonic is completely awake, staring up at Robotnik with huge, worried eyes. He struggles getting up, and only manages to tangle himself in the blanket and fall on the floor. “Why are you here? You wanna fight?” 

“No one is fighting anyone right now,” Stone declares, deciding to take control of the situation before someone does something stupid. “Stay here,” he tells Sonic as he lifts the kid back up on the couch. “And don’t do anything stupid,” he adds to Robotnik, who’s standing next to a nearby armchair, putting up his best innocent-face. 

“Fine,” Robotnik agrees after a look from Stone. “It’s no fun doing anything when the hedgehog is too tired for anything, anyway.” It’s probably supposed to reassure Stone he’s not going to do anything. 

It doesn’t really work as well as Robotnik probably wants it to, but Stone just sighs, and makes his way to the kitchen to get some soup heated up. He keeps a good bit of his attention on the living room, just in case. So far, there isn’t any screaming or shouting going on, just some quiet, occasionally heated, conversing. He hopes it’s a good sign. 

Soon he hears footsteps behind him, and Robotnik appears at his side. He’s looking at the device on his wrist and muttering quietly to himself as he reaches for the medicine Stone bought, as well as a glass of water. Stone decides to ignore him in favour of getting the now finished soup into a small cup to bring to Sonic. 

The hedgehog is sitting at the very end of the couch, bundled up to the point only his eyes are visible. And one hand, which he’s using to flip through channels on the tv. The eyes turn to Stone when he approaches. 

“Here,” Stone says, putting the cup on the table in front of Sonic. “Some soup. You’ll get the medicine after you drink that.”

“And then ice cream?” Sonic asks, taking the cup with both hands, tv-remote temporarily forgotten. He takes a small sip of the soup, then puts it down, apparently finding it a bit too warm.

“And then ice cream,” Stone promises. He hears Robotnik messing with something in the kitchen and can only hope the ice cream remains untouched by whatever he’s up to now. 

“And you’re _sure_ Eggman’s not gonna poison me or something?” Sonic asks, in a small voice after a few moments of staring down at the soup quietly. 

“Yeah,” Stone promises. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Besides, poisoning you when you’re already sick would be too “boring”, according to him.”

“Well, it would be,” Sonic agrees, sipping at the cooling soup. “He’d be too bored if I didn’t get to mess with him sometimes,” he adds with a small grin, knowing that Robotnik enjoys their little “fights” just as much as he does. 

“He would,” Stone says with a matching grin. “Just don’t say that to his face. And drink your soup,” he adds, before going back to the kitchen.

“Finished!” Robotnik declares from where he’s sitting at the kitchen table, holding a glass of... something. 

“What did you finish?” Stone asks, eyeing the liquid suspiciously. “And what were you and Sonic talking a bit ago?” He’s sure these things are connected and doesn’t know how to feel about it. 

“Just some medicine to make sure the hedgehog recovers as soon as possible,” Robotnik relies proudly, puffing up his chest. “It took some time to convince him to let me do the tests without fuzzing about it, but I got it eventually.”

“You do realize I already got him some medicine?” Stone asks, rubbing his head. Leave it to Robotnik to turn everything into a science experiment, including giving a kid some medicine. 

“And do you have the qualifications to know how much and of which kind to give to an alien hedgehog?” Robotnik counters, now looking all smug. “Because I do. With the data I gathered, I was able to calculate the exact amount of medicine, water and other ingredients will make the recovery go as fast and smoothly as possible.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Stone has to admit. Honestly, he didn’t even think about how things might differ quite a bit when it comes to giving medicine to an alien hedgehog, compared to giving medicine to a human child. 

“Good,” Robotnik says, nodding. “It’s fun to be able to discover something new sometimes, when you’re as smart as me. Don’t get the chance often.”

“Right,” Stone just agrees with him, even though this is something he hears about a lot. Robotnik loves complaining about how there’s nothing new for him to discover, as he already knows everything. It’s one of the reasons he’s so interested to get to examine Sonic, as he is a literal alien, something completely new and different. 

Some scratching on the backdoor interrupts his thoughts.

“Why don’t you go give Sonic your medicine?” he asks Robotnik, shooing him toward the living room. “I need to let Ozzie back in.”

Robotnik does go to the living room without any fuzz, probably because he’s excited to test out his new medicine, but a small, yet welcome surprise, nonetheless. Ozzie bounds into the house the moment he opens the door and disappears somewhere once inside. Stone decides not to think too much of it and returns to the living room to check up on Sonic and Robotnik.

Sonic has moved to a large, comfortable-looking armchair at some point, still bundled up in the blanket. A now empty cup is sitting on the table, so at least he drank all the soup. The glass Robotnik had the medicine in is also empty, indicating he drank that, too. Robotnik is sprawled out on the couch, his feet hanging of the end, as he’s just a little to tall to fit n it comfortably. They both look up ant him expectantly as he enters the room. 

“I ate you soup,” Sonic announces, pointing at the empty cup. “And I drank Eggman’s medicine, which was super gross by the way,” he continues, pointing to the empty glass, before pointing at Stone. “And you promised I could have ice cream if I did both those things,” he finishes, small grin on his excited, yet still slightly tired-looking face. 

“You never get me ice cream when I’m sick,” Robotnik complains, almost whining as he pints at Sonic. “Why does the hedgehog get special treatment? I’m your husband, you know?” 

“If I had known getting you to eat properly and take your medicine is as easy as promising you some ice cream, I would have done so a long time ago,” Stone replies decidedly, thinking back on all those times Robotnik has been sick and refusing to eat or take medicine or even rest, as well as all those times he’s refused to eat in general as he was in the middle of some project. 

“Well, now you know,” Robotnik says, waving his hand at him. “Now go get that ice cream. You’re not the type of man to break a promise, are you? Shoo.” 

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Stone says with the most sarcastic voice he can manage while rolling his eyes. Typical Robotnik. Demanding. 

“Thanks, Spy Guy!” Sonic calls after him when he leaves for the kitchen. _At least someone here has some manners_ , Stone thinks.

It doesn’t take long to get the ice cream. There isn’t a whole ton of it, so he decided to split it between the three of them. It’s been a while since he’s had ice cream as well, and Robotnik has the biggest sweet tooth, and would not accept being left out. Stone almost breaks a knife cutting into the just-out-of-the-freezer-and-still-solid-as-a-rock ice cream, but he manages to eventually cut it evenly without breaking anything. 

Balancing three bowls of ice cream in two hands, he returns to the living room. Then decides he really needs to stop being surprised by everything Robotnik does. In the ten or so minutes he was gone, Robotnik and Sonic have produced a laptop from somewhere, plugged it to the tv, and are currently scrolling through Netflix, barely looking up as Stone approaches them. The medicine seems to be doing wonders, as Sonic already seems more alert than before. Though it might also have to do with finally getting that promised ice cream.

“Do I even want to know where you got that from?” he asks, putting the ice cream on the table as he looks over Robotnik’s shoulder to see what they’re doing. 

“No,” Robotnik answers without looking up from the laptop where he scrolls past the Indiana Jones movie collection. “Thanks for this,” he adds after a bit, grabbing a bowl and starts shoveling ice cream into his mouth. 

“At least pick something child friendly,” Stone says, deciding there’s no point trying to stop them. He then sits back on the couch, making himself comfortable at the armrest closer to the armchair Sonic is in. Just so he can keep an eye on the kid, as well as a bit of distance between Sonic and Robotnik, just in case. 

About five minutes later, Stone finds himself watching a children’s movie about a robot and its cockroach friend on a trash-filled planet abandoned by humans. Sonic is once again neatly bundled up in his chair, slowly eating his frozen treat, while Robotnik is lounging on the couch, head in Stone’s lap, having already finished his ice cream. Stone is lazily carding his fingers through his husband’s hair with one hand, while eating his ice cream with the other. 

Sonic and Robotnik keep up a steady half-argument-half-blabber about the movie, robots, humanity and the idea of robots having feelings and free will. He doesn’t pay too much attention to it, letting it kind of flow over (or literary under) his head. It’s funny how the supposed enemies are having a light banter over a movie like friends. 

Sonic and Robotnik both fall asleep before the movie even gets to the halfway point, leaving Stone the only one awake. He pulls down a thin fleece-blanket from the back of the couch and drapes it over Robotnik, as he tends to get cold when asleep. At some point Ozzie appears, laying down on the carpet at Stone’s feet. Putting aside his ice cream bowl after finishing it, he leans back on the couch and closes his eyes, just for a few minutes...

“Aban?” 

Stone startles, having apparently dozed of at some point. The tv is playing static in complete darkness, the only other light coming from the front door and the streetlights outside. All he can see of Maddie is a shadow looming over him, arms crossed over her chest. Ozzie has disappeared somewhere again.

“Wha time is it?” he asks in a whisper, moving to drag his hands through his hair, only to realize one of his hands in still tangled in Robotnik’s hair. The Doctor and Sonic are both quietly snoring away, completely oblivious to Maddie’s presence. 

“Half past seven,” Maddie answers, also whispering. “Things took a bit longer than I expected. Sorry.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Stone reassures her, stroking Robotnik’s hair as he stirs mildly in his sleep. 

Maddie looks at the sleeping Sonic and Robotnik before moving around the table to feel Sonic’s forehead, checking his temperature. She then looks at Stone and nods toward the kitchen, quietly inviting him to move elsewhere to talk more. He nods at her, and then takes several minutes to inch away from Robotnik without waking him and then slipping a pillow underneath his head. Once he’s succeeded, Robotnik grunts, mutters something inaudible, rolls to the other side and keeps sleeping. 

“So, how did everything go?” Maddie asks when Stone sits down at the table opposite of her. There’s a glass of water she probably got herself, as well as two pizza boxes sitting on the table. She’s still in her work clothes, looks exhausted, and he’s pretty sure that’s a bloodstain on her sleeve. “His fever seems to be breaking already, which is good at least.” 

“Pretty good,” Stone replies, fiddling with his fingers and feeling strangely nervous for whatever reason. “He had a fever of 103 earlier, as well as a sore throat, so I got him some medicine, and got him to drink some soup,” he informs her. 

“And ice cream,” Maddie adds, with a small smile. “Don’t think I missed those bowls just because it’s completely dark.”

“And ice cream,” Stone admits. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt. And it got him to take the medicine without complaint.”

“It’s fine,” Maddie says. She’s then quiet for a few moments, looking towards the living room before commenting “I have to say though, I wasn’t expecting you to bring him along.” It goes without going into detail she means Robotnik. 

“To be fair, I didn’t. He invited himself,” Stone explains with a small shrug and an apologetic smile. “Hacked my phone records to figure out where I went. Don’t worry, I made sure he didn’t do anything stupid,” he’s quick to add, just to make sure she knows Sonic has been perfectly safe, and that Stone’s husband hasn’t done anything to him.

“What has he done, then? You can’t tell me he didn’t do anything at all, there’s no way I’ll believe that,” Maddie asks, somewhat sceptically, but also not without reason, Stone has to acknowledge. After all, Robotnik has done a lot of less-than-good-things more than once.

“Well, nothing much, really,” Stone admits, scratching his head. “He did take some readings from the kid to figure out the best amount of medicine to give him,” he says. “And I think one of them,” he motions toward the living room “hacked your Netflix because they wanted to watch a movie.”

“Probably Sonic,” Maddie decides, taking a sip of water. “He’s been trying to do that for weeks. Shouldn’t be surprised he finally managed. Probably about time I get him his own account, anyway.” She then levels a stern look at Stone. “You didn’t let them put on anything violent, right?”

“No, don’t worry,” Stone quickly reassures, her. “They put on Wall-E. Fell asleep halfway through it, though.”

“You know, I feel like I already have to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about your husband,” Maddie says after a long, thoughtful nod. “He seems to be quite different when not “at work”, so to speak.”

“He can get pretty complex, really,” Stone says, grinning. “He likes to be all standoffish, edgy and dramatic, but mostly he’s just a big goofball who never got to have fun as a kid and is trying to make up for it now. Don’t tell him I said that, though,” he lowers his voice at the last part, as if sharing a big secret.

“I guess that explains how Sonic actually claims to enjoy being chased around by him, not counting that first time of course,” Maddie sighs, resting her head on her arms. 

Stone gets the impression she’s not really been sure if letting Sonic handle Robotnik has been a good idea and has probably caused her a lot of worry and stress. Finding out they both pretty much see it as a game must be relieving for her. 

“Don’t worry,” he says, eventually. “I’ll keep making sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, or bad. At least to Sonic, or you guys.”

“Thanks,” Maddie says, with a small, somewhat relieved smile. This is something she has been at least somewhat worried about. “And thanks for taking care of Sonic today.” She takes one of the pizza boxes and slides it toward him. “Here, I got this as a bit of a thanks. I hope you like cheese and ham.”

“I do. Thanks,” Stone smiles at her and opens the box. The scent of warm, delicious pizza quickly fills the entire kitchen. It also reminds him that he hasn’t eaten since breakfast, making his stomach growl and twist ever so slightly at the thought of eating. 

He starts with small bites, occasionally glancing toward the living room, half-expecting Robotnik to show up at any moment to demand Stone share with him. If there’s one thing Robotnik loves other than sweets, it’s pizza. Eventually, when that doesn’t happen, he becomes more comfortable, especially after Maddie opens the other pizza box, and joins him in eating. 

He and Maddie also fall into a comfortable conversation, where they both learn new things about each other. Stone learns that Maddie normally hates horror-movies, but likes watching them with Tom, that she decided she’d become a veterinary when she was five and their family dog got sick, and that she’s always wanted to learn to surf, but never had the opportunity. 

Stone tells her about how he used to play soccer when he was a teenager, and the time he was bitten by a snake in Australia and the doctors thought he was going to lose his leg until Robotnik proved them wrong. 

They do stay away from the topic of work, though, mainly because most of what Stone does is confidential, and there is only so much to say about the thirteenth or so dog that’s brought to the vet that week because of overweight. 

Nearly an hour later, after the pizzas have been eaten and cleared away, Robotnik appears from the living room, still drowsy and half asleep, fleece blanket draped over his shoulders like a cape. Completely ignoring Maddie, he collapses into the chair next to Stone and then proceeds to drape himself all over him. 

“I guess it’s about time we start heading home,” Stone laughs as he nudges Robotnik’s head so it’s resting on his shoulder instead of his arm. From there he manages fairly easily to slide his arm around his husband’s waist and haul him up and out of the chair. Robotnik grumbles and wraps both his arms around Stone either for balance, or because he just gets really cuddly when sleepy. 

“Looks like it,” Maddie agrees with an amused smile. She’s definitely never going to forget this, ever. He can imagine both Sonic and Tom will know about it as well sooner or later. Robotnik is going to hate it. “We’ll keep in touch.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Sone agrees with a pleased nod as he walks with Robotnik towards the front door. Ozzie comes to say bye by licking his hand. “Have a good night,” he tells her as he and Robotnik make their way out the door. 

Stone hopes neither of them will catch whatever bug Sonic has. Getting sick is not fun. Well, that’s just something that remains to be seen. One thing at the time. And right now, it’s time to get his husband home and into bed.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Twitter [@Minttu09](https://twitter.com/Minttu09), so feel free to come say hi or something!


End file.
